The Washington University School of Medicine discovered that COVID infections lead to a 42% increase in brain disorders. This study was published in Nature Medicine and is based on 150,000 people with an average age of 61, who were on the most part not vaccinated, and who had been infected with COVID.
The study delineated neurological episodes during the 12 months following mild and severe infections. The study clearly indicates that long-term effects of COVID can come back to bite those with severe infections and can be devastating even to those who only suffer mild infections.
Extrapolating these results to our American population, more than 6 million people will have experienced a neurological issue in the 12 months after an intense or mild infection. Millions of people are now, and will as time passes, face brain challenges after COVID.
A reader of a prior column regarding COVID recently wrote to me. “Long COVID has been miserable to live with. I have had it since having COVID-19 in December of 2020, before vaccines were available. I have gotten all my vaccines/boosters since they have been available. I have not gotten COVID again, but I still have the long COVID. I hope they will come up with a successful treatment for long COVID … . The unending exhaustion is the worst part for me.”
To make matters worse, COVID can lead to hospitalization of up to 40% of infected children due to headaches and other neurological symptoms, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) in Pennsylvania. These symptoms can lead to encephalopathy and intensive care.
The author of the UPMC study notes that a COVID virus can be devastating to children by causing infection and an inflammatory condition called MIS-C, even weeks after the virus is no longer apparent.
So what does all of this mean?
We absolutely need to protect ourselves and each other from the awful effects of COVID infection. Yet, many of us don’t take appropriate care to avoid the devastation wrought by both immediate and long-term effects of COVID infection. There are reasons why.
First, there is the debate over wearing face masks. It devolves to disagreement about freedom versus regulation. Science, common sense and personal well-being dictates wearing a face mask to slow down the spread of COVID. Meanwhile, there are those who argue that they should be free to choose whether to wear a face mask or not.
So why are so many people polarized by such a simple activity as wearing a face mask to keep themselves safe? To me, this comes down to our individual sources of information. Fox is one source while MSNBC is another. To face mask or not to face mask shows one’s political leanings, when it should be about health and safety.
And in that politically polarized environment, many become biased for or against perceptions of their world, and how those perceptions impact their views of the future. I mean, you see other people not wearing a face mask, and they don’t seem to be sick, so why should you bother wearing a face mask? After all, the illness is not visible, and people do not wear a sign saying that they are sick, about to end up in a hospital, or dying.
Then there is peer pressure. No one likes to be the only one in the grocery store wearing a face mask. It just feels like everyone is looking at you.
Also, facts can conflict with preconceived ideas. Thus changing one’s thinking requires admitting past errors in judgment. And that is very difficult.
Yet, face-mask wearing is effective to keep you relatively safe (when combined with social distancing, hand washing, vaccinations and boosters).
A CDC study was conducted not too long ago at a hair salon. All the staff and its clients were required to wear a face mask. Two of the beauticians had COVID but nonetheless attended to 139 clients. No infections were spread to or within the clients. The face masks were 100% effective at stopping the spread of COVID.
The CDC also studied a COVID outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt. Even though there was not full compliance with a face mask requirement, the group that did wear the face masks experienced a 70% reduction in COVID infection.
And the CDC recorded infection rates in 15 states and the District of Columbia. Bottom line is that face-mask mandates slowed the rate of infection with greater benefit the longer the mandates were in place.
Yes, wearing a face mask is uncomfortable, particularly when it is hot and stuffy. And covering the nose and mouth makes it harder to breathe and communicate. On the other hand, being infected and dealing with the symptoms that come along with COVID and long COVID are no picnic either. And COVID and long COVID symptoms can both shorten your life and make living miserable.
So, when you go to the grocery store and see someone wearing a face mask, it will likely be my wife, me, or one of precious few others. This is an invitation to join us.
Bill Gindlesperger is a central Pennsylvanian, Dickinson College graduate, Pennsylvania System Of Higher Education (PASSHE) Governor, Shippensburg University Trustee, and Chairman of eLynxx Solutions. eLynxx software coordinates and drives communication, specifying, approval, procurement or production, reporting and activities necessary to obtaining direct mail, marketing materials, promo and all other printing. He is a board member, campaign advisor, successful entrepreneur, published author and commentator. He can be reached at [email protected].
